[IC] Naruto: Fire From Ember (open/accepting) (Page 12)

[IC] Naruto: Fire From Ember (open/accepting) Page 12

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Location: Training ground 31	Naruko Uzumaki
^{_____________________________________________}	YES! It actually worked! She had been practicing this technique for months on end, trying to get the proportions just right. Not to mention Koji-San’s reaction to it was everything she had hoped it would be, now she just had to wait for Gorudo to snatch the scroll and the test would be over. All according to plan. At least it was until he suddenly roused himself from the stunned and perverted trance and kicked the two clones into each other, causing them both to disperse from the sheer force of the kick. And now he had Gorudo and was talking about ending his life!? Naruko’s mind was running ten thousand miles a minute. How did he manage to handle that? That was the culmination of months of work! And now Gorudo’s life was on the line and...And...Wait where was Nijira? The blonde ninja began to frantically comb the area only to see the dog owner passed out in a pool of his own blood. Great she had incapacitated the wrong one with her technique! The knuckleheaded ninja was doing her best to try and think of a way out of this, there had to be something she could do. ANYTHING she could do to help Gorudo find an opening and make sure he didn’t die. Think, Naruko, Think!!! She wracked her brain and kept trying to think of something, anything, that she could make use of...When she finally had an idea. Naruko could move pretty fast, and she had plenty of Shuriken. If she created a storm of guided shuriken it might be enough to give Gorudo an opening to exploit, she’d just have to be careful not to hit him. The orange-clad ninja focused her chakra and in a yellow flash of light she had repositioned herself with the body flicker technique, she suddenly retrieved some wire from her pocket. As quickly as she could manage, she started threading the wire through her pouch of shuriken. When she was done she jumped into the air and threw her wired shuriken down towards Koji. “Dodge THIS, Sensei!” Her shuriken soared through the air and suddenly several of them diverged from their path. Being pulled back and redirected to move behind Koji’s back while the rest of the shuriken continued to attack from the front. A two-pronged assault that might create an opening for Gorudo to exploit and get out of the Jounin’s grasp. It was better than just sitting there and watching her friend die.

Location: Training ground 31

Naruko Uzumaki

^{_____________________________________________}

YES! It actually worked! She had been practicing this technique for months on end, trying to get the proportions just right. Not to mention Koji-San’s reaction to it was everything she had hoped it would be, now she just had to wait for Gorudo to snatch the scroll and the test would be over. All according to plan. At least it was until he suddenly roused himself from the stunned and perverted trance and kicked the two clones into each other, causing them both to disperse from the sheer force of the kick. And now he had Gorudo and was talking about ending his life!? Naruko’s mind was running ten thousand miles a minute. How did he manage to handle that? That was the culmination of months of work! And now Gorudo’s life was on the line and...And...Wait where was Nijira?

The blonde ninja began to frantically comb the area only to see the dog owner passed out in a pool of his own blood. Great she had incapacitated the wrong one with her technique! The knuckleheaded ninja was doing her best to try and think of a way out of this, there had to be something she could do. ANYTHING she could do to help Gorudo find an opening and make sure he didn’t die. Think, Naruko, Think!!! She wracked her brain and kept trying to think of something, anything, that she could make use of...When she finally had an idea.

Naruko could move pretty fast, and she had plenty of Shuriken. If she created a storm of guided shuriken it might be enough to give Gorudo an opening to exploit, she’d just have to be careful not to hit him. The orange-clad ninja focused her chakra and in a yellow flash of light she had repositioned herself with the body flicker technique, she suddenly retrieved some wire from her pocket. As quickly as she could manage, she started threading the wire through her pouch of shuriken. When she was done she jumped into the air and threw her wired shuriken down towards Koji. “Dodge THIS, Sensei!”

Her shuriken soared through the air and suddenly several of them diverged from their path. Being pulled back and redirected to move behind Koji’s back while the rest of the shuriken continued to attack from the front. A two-pronged assault that might create an opening for Gorudo to exploit and get out of the Jounin’s grasp. It was better than just sitting there and watching her friend die.

Location: Training ground 31	Gorudo Hikigae
^{_______________________________________________}	His prayers were answered, good old faithful Naruko, he was worried that she might try to do somthing completley off the rails. But refreshingly she did exactly what he asked of her, and in a creative way! Gorudo was always impressed by Naruko's quick thinking. Somtimes her plans can occasionally miss the mark, but not today, today she was on fire. As it should be! they both had been looking forword to this day for a long time. Gorudo had the perfect opening he needed for his toad tongue to wrap around the scroll, the scroll shot back towards Gorudo as his tongue retracted. The scroll slapped against his face, and it remained against his mouth being held by his tongue to leave his hands free. Gorudo felt a warm sense of satisfaction at how well his plan has worked, but Gorudo then started to notice that his cut left shoulder and his right thigh started to get warmer, the warmth was from more blood escaping his body as two kunai prenetrated his body, his pants and shirt were getting excessively saturated from his blood. And just as quickly as his plan worked. He was captured. 'Shit...' "Escape this yourself. Prove you're worthy. Before I decide you're not and end it." Takuma sensei issued this challege to Gorudo. Gorudo still had not made up his mind wether to beleive his death threats, so outwordly Gorudo kept his cool. But reguardless of if the threats are genuin or not, Gorudo felt in danger. Nijira was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Komi, and he had a dangerously sharp kunai close to his neck. Seconds felt like minutes as Gorudo's brain started working on a solution to getting out of the grasp of a Jounin. The test was somewhat possible with all three of them together, but for Gorudo to try and beat a Jounin in a contest of strength would have been pointless, Gorudo knew he needed to find a way to slip his grasp... Gamaboro! Gamaboro waited patiently in Gorudo's waist pouch. With the zipper open he could see the sky and some of Gorudo's head. The plan was when Gorudo got the scroll he was going to put the scroll in his pocket and then Gamaboro was going to transform into the scroll to form a duplicate. Gamaboro could tell that the plan had gone wrong somehow as he suddenly felt a jolt of motion knocking his sunglasses out of place, Gamaboro quickly repositioned himself and his glasses and carefully peaked out of Gorudo's pocket. 'THE KID IS CAPTURED!?!' Gamaboro screamed in his head as he retreated back into the bag, 'what am I going to do? how am I going to save him!? How am I going to save myself!? I am dead as a belt if his dad finds out I failed to save his son, I'll be outcast from the mountain for sure! and nobody really likes me to begin with! AND-' Gamaboro's thoughts were interrupted by hearing Gorudo "Gamaboro! Oil bullet!" A bit of opportunity was made for the little toad within the pocket from Naruko's swift intervention, she clearly wasn't letting her friend down! Gorudo could see sensei's further away arm have to raise away from him as he'd swiftly thrown multiple kunai at Naruko's shuriken. With two swift throws he'd hurled out four separate weapons that each pinned into the open rings in the middle of the shurikens, slamming them into trees to pin them down and keep the wires from being able to move in. Naruko's enclosing circle at Koji's back had become a pinned open rectangle. Still, the distraction gave Gamaboro the opening to spit out the oil bullet, slamming into Koji's arm and soaking him in slick oil from his shoulder, his arm, and all over his chest and Gorudo too! Gorudo had the perfect opportunity to slip out... 'Yes! right on target!' Gorudo thought to himself as he felt the freedom of escapeing Koji's grasp. Gorudo felt his right leg give way as the kunai damaged a muscle he would have used to run, but Gorudo quickly knew what he needed to do. Toad leg time, Gorudo formed the Serpent hand seal once more the scroll dropping from his mouth and held by his arms, the toad tongue vanishing in a puff of smoke, and just as Gorudo was going to change his legs to toad legs he felt Takuma sensei grab him, and just as quickly he felt Takuma sensei's kunai cut across his neck. 'What? no! this doesn't make sense?!' Gorudo thought as he couldn't speak, he was being held by his neck. He couldn't see his neck but from the blood that poured out from Koji's hand Gorudo knew he wouldn't be able to anyway, with his neck cut Gorudo struggled to breath 'No! this cant be right! it is illogical! why bring us out here, why make us do anything! why!' Gorudo continued to try and rationalize the situation. Gorudo tried to struggle himself free, kicking and pulling at his arm pointlessly 'This can't be it! I'm suppost to be the greatest sage of all time! this cant be IT it doesnt make sense! it....doesn't...no...' Gorudo's mind started to get overloaded with trying to find the logic in the situation, looking for any clues or reasoning, the pain of the kunai replaying and replaying every second endlessly, tormenting him, he felt himself dieing, he watched his blood pour out onto himself and on his murderers hands until his conciousness completely blacked out. his last wish as he was cast to the ground was that Naruko save herself, and not blame herself for his death. the tears in his eyes falling across his face and soiling the bloody oiled ground, just as the light completely eclisped and escaped his eyes.

Location: Training ground 31

Gorudo Hikigae

^{_______________________________________________}

His prayers were answered, good old faithful Naruko, he was worried that she might try to do somthing completley off the rails. But refreshingly she did exactly what he asked of her, and in a creative way! Gorudo was always impressed by Naruko's quick thinking. Somtimes her plans can occasionally miss the mark, but not today, today she was on fire. As it should be! they both had been looking forword to this day for a long time. Gorudo had the perfect opening he needed for his toad tongue to wrap around the scroll, the scroll shot back towards Gorudo as his tongue retracted.

The scroll slapped against his face, and it remained against his mouth being held by his tongue to leave his hands free. Gorudo felt a warm sense of satisfaction at how well his plan has worked, but Gorudo then started to notice that his cut left shoulder and his right thigh started to get warmer, the warmth was from more blood escaping his body as two kunai prenetrated his body, his pants and shirt were getting excessively saturated from his blood. And just as quickly as his plan worked. He was captured.

'Shit...'

"Escape this yourself. Prove you're worthy. Before I decide you're not and end it." Takuma sensei issued this challege to Gorudo. Gorudo still had not made up his mind wether to beleive his death threats, so outwordly Gorudo kept his cool. But reguardless of if the threats are genuin or not, Gorudo felt in danger. Nijira was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Komi, and he had a dangerously sharp kunai close to his neck.

Seconds felt like minutes as Gorudo's brain started working on a solution to getting out of the grasp of a Jounin. The test was somewhat possible with all three of them together, but for Gorudo to try and beat a Jounin in a contest of strength would have been pointless, Gorudo knew he needed to find a way to slip his grasp... Gamaboro!

Gamaboro waited patiently in Gorudo's waist pouch. With the zipper open he could see the sky and some of Gorudo's head. The plan was when Gorudo got the scroll he was going to put the scroll in his pocket and then Gamaboro was going to transform into the scroll to form a duplicate. Gamaboro could tell that the plan had gone wrong somehow as he suddenly felt a jolt of motion knocking his sunglasses out of place, Gamaboro quickly repositioned himself and his glasses and carefully peaked out of Gorudo's pocket. 'THE KID IS CAPTURED!?!' Gamaboro screamed in his head as he retreated back into the bag, 'what am I going to do? how am I going to save him!? How am I going to save myself!? I am dead as a belt if his dad finds out I failed to save his son, I'll be outcast from the mountain for sure! and nobody really likes me to begin with! AND-' Gamaboro's thoughts were interrupted by hearing Gorudo "Gamaboro! Oil bullet!"

A bit of opportunity was made for the little toad within the pocket from Naruko's swift intervention, she clearly wasn't letting her friend down! Gorudo could see sensei's further away arm have to raise away from him as he'd swiftly thrown multiple kunai at Naruko's shuriken. With two swift throws he'd hurled out four separate weapons that each pinned into the open rings in the middle of the shurikens, slamming them into trees to pin them down and keep the wires from being able to move in. Naruko's enclosing circle at Koji's back had become a pinned open rectangle. Still, the distraction gave Gamaboro the opening to spit out the oil bullet, slamming into Koji's arm and soaking him in slick oil from his shoulder, his arm, and all over his chest and Gorudo too! Gorudo had the perfect opportunity to slip out...

'Yes! right on target!' Gorudo thought to himself as he felt the freedom of escapeing Koji's grasp. Gorudo felt his right leg give way as the kunai damaged a muscle he would have used to run, but Gorudo quickly knew what he needed to do. Toad leg time, Gorudo formed the Serpent hand seal once more the scroll dropping from his mouth and held by his arms, the toad tongue vanishing in a puff of smoke, and just as Gorudo was going to change his legs to toad legs he felt Takuma sensei grab him, and just as quickly he felt Takuma sensei's kunai cut across his neck.

'What? no! this doesn't make sense?!' Gorudo thought as he couldn't speak, he was being held by his neck. He couldn't see his neck but from the blood that poured out from Koji's hand Gorudo knew he wouldn't be able to anyway, with his neck cut Gorudo struggled to breath 'No! this cant be right! it is illogical! why bring us out here, why make us do anything! why!' Gorudo continued to try and rationalize the situation. Gorudo tried to struggle himself free, kicking and pulling at his arm pointlessly 'This can't be it! I'm suppost to be the greatest sage of all time! this cant be IT it doesnt make sense! it....doesn't...no...' Gorudo's mind started to get overloaded with trying to find the logic in the situation, looking for any clues or reasoning, the pain of the kunai replaying and replaying every second endlessly, tormenting him, he felt himself dieing, he watched his blood pour out onto himself and on his murderers hands until his conciousness completely blacked out. his last wish as he was cast to the ground was that Naruko save herself, and not blame herself for his death. the tears in his eyes falling across his face and soiling the bloody oiled ground, just as the light completely eclisped and escaped his eyes.

Koji Takuma	"Do you really want to die?"
^{_______________________________________________}	The whole forest ceased to make even the slightest sound, as if it had gone completely still, when Koji held onto the limp Gorudo. He let him fall to his knees first, and then the rest of his body slumping forward to the ground with a pool of blood forming under the boy's neck. As if what he'd just done was nothing at all, Koji stepped over the body towards Naruko, locking eyes with her while drenched in blood and oil. "I said I'd kill all of you for interfering, and you go and shout out 'Dodge this'. You doomed them and yourself..." Unfortunately for Naruko, the instructor didn't grant any time to recover, or even process what had just happened in front of her. He had already gone forward towards her with two kicks towards her stomach, and three kunai afterwards thrown to bounce off the ground upwards into her shoulders and upper leg. The shock and disbelief of her friend's death would give way to rage soon enough, and it was important to show her weakness and helplessness as it boiled over. Koji stayed close, prolonging a melee battle with the girl, and completely overwhelming her with the difference in skill between Genin and Jounin. Attempts to make seals for shadow clones were interrupted by strikes to the arms and legs to get her off balance. Angry punches were difficult from her wounds, and countered with strikes to the gut. She landed a few blows, but his experienced movement made them into lesser impacts that dealt far less damage than she'd have wanted. The onslaught went for a couple of minutes, feeling much longer for both of the battling warriors, but the younger finally faltered. With a kick to the back of her knee, Naruko was brought down to kneel, with Koji following behind swifly to lean onto her leg and grab her in the same way as he had her friend. A kunai at her throat. As if to not give her a change to spit any more words at him, let her make any more declarations, Naruko suddenly felt a sharp pain in her back as he jabbed his fingers into it, just as he cut her neck just like Gorudo. Spouts of crimson flowed down his hand grabbed against her throat, keeping her in place with the feeling in her back getting sharper, and after only a few seconds, consciousness faded. Slowly, and gently, Koji laid her face down and stood while clutching his side, his breath heavy and ragged while he was covered in blood. "Just... One more..." he let out as he faced the final student being guarded by his faithful companion.

Koji Takuma

"Do you really want to die?"

^{_______________________________________________}

The whole forest ceased to make even the slightest sound, as if it had gone completely still, when Koji held onto the limp Gorudo. He let him fall to his knees first, and then the rest of his body slumping forward to the ground with a pool of blood forming under the boy's neck. As if what he'd just done was nothing at all, Koji stepped over the body towards Naruko, locking eyes with her while drenched in blood and oil. "I said I'd kill all of you for interfering, and you go and shout out 'Dodge this'. You doomed them and yourself..."

Unfortunately for Naruko, the instructor didn't grant any time to recover, or even process what had just happened in front of her. He had already gone forward towards her with two kicks towards her stomach, and three kunai afterwards thrown to bounce off the ground upwards into her shoulders and upper leg. The shock and disbelief of her friend's death would give way to rage soon enough, and it was important to show her weakness and helplessness as it boiled over.

Koji stayed close, prolonging a melee battle with the girl, and completely overwhelming her with the difference in skill between Genin and Jounin. Attempts to make seals for shadow clones were interrupted by strikes to the arms and legs to get her off balance. Angry punches were difficult from her wounds, and countered with strikes to the gut. She landed a few blows, but his experienced movement made them into lesser impacts that dealt far less damage than she'd have wanted. The onslaught went for a couple of minutes, feeling much longer for both of the battling warriors, but the younger finally faltered. With a kick to the back of her knee, Naruko was brought down to kneel, with Koji following behind swifly to lean onto her leg and grab her in the same way as he had her friend. A kunai at her throat. As if to not give her a change to spit any more words at him, let her make any more declarations, Naruko suddenly felt a sharp pain in her back as he jabbed his fingers into it, just as he cut her neck just like Gorudo. Spouts of crimson flowed down his hand grabbed against her throat, keeping her in place with the feeling in her back getting sharper, and after only a few seconds, consciousness faded.

Slowly, and gently, Koji laid her face down and stood while clutching his side, his breath heavy and ragged while he was covered in blood. "Just... One more..." he let out as he faced the final student being guarded by his faithful companion.

Ichika Uchiha	“Peace earned through communication is just and true, but without the strong to protect those who would shepherd in such an age... Everything will be lost. Power is absolute.”
^{_______________________________________________}	As she dove deeper into the water, the previously conjured shadow clone of Ichika Uchiha paddled her feet; hastening her descent towards the slowly but surely drowning Sunagakure exchange student. Whom just so happened to be the Jinchuriki of the one-tailed beast. Her ears popped as she reached depths ordinarily unreachable by humans, but due to the physical conditioning and chakra control exhibited by Shinobi, which amongst her peers, Ichika's own were exceptional; the ebon haired Kunoichi was able to soldier on, despite the immense pressure. But as the Uchiha closed in on Tomoyuki, she felt a sudden shift in the water. When she turned to face the source of the disturbance, her gaze was met with the presence of a trio of enormous grey sharks. "Fuck." Was the only word that came to her mind, in an incredibly out of character thought from the usually prim and proper ninja as the apex predators closed in at breakneck speeds, thirsting for blood. With no time to waste, the clone pulled her kunai from it's place at her hip and channelled chakra into the flats of her feet. With a grunt which forced bubbles of air from her lips, Ichika pushed herself upwards at the last second, as the first shark's gaping maw closed in. Barely evading the monstrous bite of the carcharodon, Ichika sailed above the grey water borne mammal. As she passed it's nose, the Uchiha slammed her blade into the top of the shark's head, clasping onto the hilt of the kunai with both hands in a death-grip. As the beast writhed and spun in pain, Ichika held on for dear life, turning her head to face the next oncoming shark as the one she'd mounted stabilised. As the two killlers locked eyes, Ichika's sharingan whirled to life, appearing to be a blur or red light in the depths of the ocean. The Jōnin poured chakra from her dojutsu into the chakra network of her next victim, placing it under a genjutsu which sent it into a feeding frenzy. With a gutteral roar, the beast instantly yawed left, and bit into the other member of its hunting pack, tearing a huge chunk from its back before turning back to Ichika, and barrelling towards her at full speed. The woman held resolute as the animal burst towards her at awe-inspiring speed. But once again, Ichika pushed chakra into the soles of her feet, and met the beast's eyes as it approached. Hold... she said to herself in her head as she placed one of her feet onto the ring pommel of her kunai, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce. For her plan to work, the placement of the shark's bite had to be perfect. It wasn't until the beast was a mere meter from her face, that Ichika pushed off of her kunai with an underwater chakra jump. Jetting herself off and away from the fatal bite, but simultaneously ripping her kunai from its place within the other shark and into the mouth of the other as it bit down onto the top of the head of the first shark that Ichika had engaged. Killing it instantly. "Hiraishin!" Ichika bellowed aloud as she gripped her wakazashi's hilt, the fabric of time and space around the clone bent to her will as the space time ninjutsu of the Flying Raijin sucked the leaf kunoichi through it's network, causing her to materialise inside the mouth of the beast. With a brief moment to catch a fresh breath as she found herself inside of an air pocket, with her kunai in her off hand, and wakazashi in the other. With a relentless flurry of strikes with the speed of lightning at the soft tissue of the inside of the shark's mouth, Ichika quickly found herself launched from the beast's mouth, as it spat her out. But it had done so too late, the internal damage caused was too much for it to handle and it soon passed out from blood loss. With the seemingly lifeless bodies of the three apex predators in her wake, Ichika pressed on deeper, paddling as fast as she could. Even stripping pieces of her armour from her body as she went deeper and deeper. Eventually, she managed to catch up to Tomoyuki's position. But as she approached the exchange student, she bore witness to a horrifying sight. The boy's eyes had glazed over completely, and were a citrime yellow, with black diamonds in their center. Her own eyes widened, as she flashed back in the moment to the day she had fought the nine-tails with the rest of the leaf village. It was going to happen again. With a puff of smoke, the clone in the depths dissipated. And its chakra returned to the original Ichika atop Katuyu's back. With it's experiences funnelling into the mind and memory of the Uchiha Jōnin. With no time to lose, Ichika turned to Mizuraki and although only the Senju knew Ichika well enough to notice, she had an uncharacteristic display of fear in her eyes. "We need to leave. NOW!

Ichika Uchiha

“Peace earned through communication is just and true, but without the strong to protect those who would shepherd in such an age... Everything will be lost. Power is absolute.”

^{_______________________________________________}

As she dove deeper into the water, the previously conjured shadow clone of Ichika Uchiha paddled her feet; hastening her descent towards the slowly but surely drowning Sunagakure exchange student. Whom just so happened to be the Jinchuriki of the one-tailed beast. Her ears popped as she reached depths ordinarily unreachable by humans, but due to the physical conditioning and chakra control exhibited by Shinobi, which amongst her peers, Ichika's own were exceptional; the ebon haired Kunoichi was able to soldier on, despite the immense pressure.

But as the Uchiha closed in on Tomoyuki, she felt a sudden shift in the water. When she turned to face the source of the disturbance, her gaze was met with the presence of a trio of enormous grey sharks. "Fuck." Was the only word that came to her mind, in an incredibly out of character thought from the usually prim and proper ninja as the apex predators closed in at breakneck speeds, thirsting for blood. With no time to waste, the clone pulled her kunai from it's place at her hip and channelled chakra into the flats of her feet. With a grunt which forced bubbles of air from her lips, Ichika pushed herself upwards at the last second, as the first shark's gaping maw closed in.

Barely evading the monstrous bite of the carcharodon, Ichika sailed above the grey water borne mammal. As she passed it's nose, the Uchiha slammed her blade into the top of the shark's head, clasping onto the hilt of the kunai with both hands in a death-grip. As the beast writhed and spun in pain, Ichika held on for dear life, turning her head to face the next oncoming shark as the one she'd mounted stabilised. As the two killlers locked eyes, Ichika's sharingan whirled to life, appearing to be a blur or red light in the depths of the ocean. The Jōnin poured chakra from her dojutsu into the chakra network of her next victim, placing it under a genjutsu which sent it into a feeding frenzy. With a gutteral roar, the beast instantly yawed left, and bit into the other member of its hunting pack, tearing a huge chunk from its back before turning back to Ichika, and barrelling towards her at full speed.

The woman held resolute as the animal burst towards her at awe-inspiring speed. But once again, Ichika pushed chakra into the soles of her feet, and met the beast's eyes as it approached. Hold... she said to herself in her head as she placed one of her feet onto the ring pommel of her kunai, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce. For her plan to work, the placement of the shark's bite had to be perfect. It wasn't until the beast was a mere meter from her face, that Ichika pushed off of her kunai with an underwater chakra jump. Jetting herself off and away from the fatal bite, but simultaneously ripping her kunai from its place within the other shark and into the mouth of the other as it bit down onto the top of the head of the first shark that Ichika had engaged. Killing it instantly.

"Hiraishin!" Ichika bellowed aloud as she gripped her wakazashi's hilt, the fabric of time and space around the clone bent to her will as the space time ninjutsu of the Flying Raijin sucked the leaf kunoichi through it's network, causing her to materialise inside the mouth of the beast. With a brief moment to catch a fresh breath as she found herself inside of an air pocket, with her kunai in her off hand, and wakazashi in the other. With a relentless flurry of strikes with the speed of lightning at the soft tissue of the inside of the shark's mouth, Ichika quickly found herself launched from the beast's mouth, as it spat her out. But it had done so too late, the internal damage caused was too much for it to handle and it soon passed out from blood loss.

With the seemingly lifeless bodies of the three apex predators in her wake, Ichika pressed on deeper, paddling as fast as she could. Even stripping pieces of her armour from her body as she went deeper and deeper. Eventually, she managed to catch up to Tomoyuki's position. But as she approached the exchange student, she bore witness to a horrifying sight. The boy's eyes had glazed over completely, and were a citrime yellow, with black diamonds in their center. Her own eyes widened, as she flashed back in the moment to the day she had fought the nine-tails with the rest of the leaf village. It was going to happen again.

With a puff of smoke, the clone in the depths dissipated. And its chakra returned to the original Ichika atop Katuyu's back. With it's experiences funnelling into the mind and memory of the Uchiha Jōnin. With no time to lose, Ichika turned to Mizuraki and although only the Senju knew Ichika well enough to notice, she had an uncharacteristic display of fear in her eyes.

"We need to leave. NOW!

Shiori Spiga	"Once you’re devoured, it doesn’t matter who you were before."
^{_______________________________________________}	Shiori appreciated Ken’s command. No questions, no nonsense. As the Hyuuga ran back into the fray, she fixed her eyes on her teacher, their would-be murderer, and moved back to a safer distance. Once Burai lunged at Kuree, she made her attack, throwing three kunai into the battle, each individally aimed at Kuree or her clones. Whether she hit the clones directly, grazed, or missed completely, Shiori didn’t care. Half a foot from their target, The egg sacs attached to each kunai would burst sending out a net of sticky webbing infested with small, skittering spiders, ready to bite whatever body was nearest and fill them with paralytic venom. If her webs didn’t immediately attach to a body they’d expand and dissolve slowly in the air, undulating like a ghostly jellyfish filled with poisonous spiders. With two male meat shields and plenty of hungry spiders between her and the murder-crazed mountain hag, Shiori was confident in the advantage Ken’s plan had given her. She noted that there was a slight chance her strategy would result in some spiders landing on the boys, which would make things a bit harder for them. But that was a sacrifice she was willing to make.

Shiori Spiga

"Once you’re devoured, it doesn’t matter who you were before."

^{_______________________________________________}

Shiori appreciated Ken’s command. No questions, no nonsense. As the Hyuuga ran back into the fray, she fixed her eyes on her teacher, their would-be murderer, and moved back to a safer distance. Once Burai lunged at Kuree, she made her attack, throwing three kunai into the battle, each individally aimed at Kuree or her clones.

Whether she hit the clones directly, grazed, or missed completely, Shiori didn’t care. Half a foot from their target, The egg sacs attached to each kunai would burst sending out a net of sticky webbing infested with small, skittering spiders, ready to bite whatever body was nearest and fill them with paralytic venom. If her webs didn’t immediately attach to a body they’d expand and dissolve slowly in the air, undulating like a ghostly jellyfish filled with poisonous spiders.

With two male meat shields and plenty of hungry spiders between her and the murder-crazed mountain hag, Shiori was confident in the advantage Ken’s plan had given her.

She noted that there was a slight chance her strategy would result in some spiders landing on the boys, which would make things a bit harder for them. But that was a sacrifice she was willing to make.

Nijira Inuzuka	"Don't you dare think that this is over! I won't just feed on the scraps of your glory! I'll beat you, and even then I'll keep pushing! I'll beat every single shinobi in the world! I won't stop until everyone acknowledges me!"
^{_______________________________________________}	"I said I'd kill all of you for interfering, and you go and shout out 'Dodge this'. You doomed them and yourself..." And in an instant, Takuma-sensei had descended upon Naruko before Komi even had a chance to react. In seconds Naruko lay a bloody mess and Komi could only watch... No! Wait! Komi could do more than watch! Komi could fight! In a puff of smoke, what was once a slightly chubby, maybe, but very strong and happy and loyal and and... and... strong puppy became a cool boy, with a really spiffy jacket and a neat hair style: He was a perfect clone of his now unconscious master, Jira-tan!!! "Rrrrawr! You won't get away with this", he cried and immediately launched into a furious spinning attack, drilling with great speed towards what he'd thought would be Jira-tan's treasured sensei! But he'd already hurt the others... Probably with his weapons. But you couldn't just throw a regular weapon at Komi while he was using his special Passing Fang technique! He and Jira had practiced! It'd bounce right off! And then he'd bite him in the neck... Oh wait! He was in human clone form! He would have to use something like Beast Tearing Palm! YEAH! Meanwhile, Jira's eyes began to open and... the first thing he saw was... himself... jumping and spinning at sensei. Was he... dreaming? Was he a ghost...? Ugh! He shook his head and pushed himself up. A ghost wouldn't smell so much... blood?!? He startled to his feet and saw the bodies of... his former teammates in front of him! W-what happened?!? How long had he been out?!? And Komi was... NO! Thinking as fast as he could, he fell into Four Legs and sprinted towards sensei, fully intending to use a body-replacement jutsu to... he wasn't quite sure... get behind him, crowd him, maybe launch into a feral barrage... and get Komi OUT OF THERE! Th-they weren't on sensei's level, not just the two of them. Damnit! If Toad-boy and Ramen-breath hadn't rushed ahead, maybe... But now they were... Urgh!!! He couldn't think about that right now. He couldn't let the same thing happen to Komi, even if it meant his own life! Closing in on sensei, Komi was determined to press him! He only knew one thing! He had to protect Jira-tan at all cost! Even if it meant his own life!

Nijira Inuzuka

"Don't you dare think that this is over! I won't just feed on the scraps of your glory! I'll beat you, and even then I'll keep pushing! I'll beat every single shinobi in the world! I won't stop until everyone acknowledges me!"

^{_______________________________________________}

"I said I'd kill all of you for interfering, and you go and shout out 'Dodge this'. You doomed them and yourself..."

And in an instant, Takuma-sensei had descended upon Naruko before Komi even had a chance to react. In seconds Naruko lay a bloody mess and Komi could only watch... No! Wait! Komi could do more than watch! Komi could fight! In a puff of smoke, what was once a slightly chubby, maybe, but very strong and happy and loyal and and... and... strong puppy became a cool boy, with a really spiffy jacket and a neat hair style: He was a perfect clone of his now unconscious master, Jira-tan!!!

"Rrrrawr! You won't get away with this", he cried and immediately launched into a furious spinning attack, drilling with great speed towards what he'd thought would be Jira-tan's treasured sensei! But he'd already hurt the others... Probably with his weapons. But you couldn't just throw a regular weapon at Komi while he was using his special Passing Fang technique! He and Jira had practiced! It'd bounce right off! And then he'd bite him in the neck... Oh wait! He was in human clone form! He would have to use something like Beast Tearing Palm! YEAH!

Meanwhile, Jira's eyes began to open and... the first thing he saw was... himself... jumping and spinning at sensei. Was he... dreaming? Was he a ghost...? Ugh! He shook his head and pushed himself up. A ghost wouldn't smell so much... blood?!? He startled to his feet and saw the bodies of... his former teammates in front of him! W-what happened?!? How long had he been out?!? And Komi was... NO!

Thinking as fast as he could, he fell into Four Legs and sprinted towards sensei, fully intending to use a body-replacement jutsu to... he wasn't quite sure... get behind him, crowd him, maybe launch into a feral barrage... and get Komi OUT OF THERE! Th-they weren't on sensei's level, not just the two of them. Damnit! If Toad-boy and Ramen-breath hadn't rushed ahead, maybe... But now they were... Urgh!!! He couldn't think about that right now. He couldn't let the same thing happen to Komi, even if it meant his own life!

Closing in on sensei, Komi was determined to press him! He only knew one thing! He had to protect Jira-tan at all cost! Even if it meant his own life!

Kenji Yamanaka	“I just wanna be rich and famous, is that too much to ask?!”
^{_______________________________________________}	Kenji sauntered through the village with glee, as he always did. His eyes almost closed whilst a warm smile covered his features, his hands clasped behind his back has he moved. The Yamanaka teenager had such a casually light step that it almost left the dirt of the village grounds entirely undisturbed. Almost. He whistled along to the chirping of the blue birds of the village, and eventually found himself at a small clearing which contained a quaint little park. "Well, I guess I can take a break. This is a lovely park, after all. I'm sure nobody is in immediate danger." He thought to himself aloud before running his eyes over the layout of his immediate vicinity, eyes squinting and gayly smiling as he saw two young genin sat talking on the bench. "Ah, to be that young and carefree again..." Meanwhile atop the roof, Akira's heart pumped at a dangerously high rate as he feared detection. But his plan, despite all of the 'bumps' it had to endure; had seemingly gone off without a hitch and the young Senju was able to successfully eavesdrop on his comrades' conversation. Much to his relief and somewhat his disappointment, Akira discovered that it was merely in order to relay an apology that Rashiku had pulled Ami to the side. Infuriated by the lack of camaraderie shown with this action, Akira leapt to his feet and immediately began yelling down to his teammate. "OIOIOIOI! What's the big idea ya goof?! You couldn't have just said all that in front of me?!" Kenji chuckled lightly to himself at the commotion unfolding among the team of genin, before sitting down on an adjacent bench and crossing his legs. Flicking his scarf back behind his shoulder as it began to unfurl as his back hit the oaken panels. With a moment's reprieve, Kenji decided to take a peek at his assignment, unravelling the scroll with his gloved hands to reveal its contents. Contained within, were his orders to assume command of Team 2, as their Jonin was to he reassigned at tbe personal request of Seiji Hyuuga. Team 2, whose members consisted of Akira Senju, Ami Uzumaki and the mist refugee, Rashiku Karata. A surly look of confusion spread across the Yamanaka's face as his eyes rapidly examined the dossiers of his first charges as a team leader, then glanced over at the genin whom he had happened upon. Then back to the dossiers, then back to the genin once again before the realization hit him that his laziness had brought about this sheer coincidence as the boy, who Kenji now realised was Rashiku was about to begin some kind of verbal exchange with the boy on the roof, who must have been Akira. "OI!" the special Jōnin interrupted, shouting at the top of his lungs incredibly uncharacteristically lf himself in order to prevent an argument, or worse, a fight occuring immediately as he assumed command of the team. Quickly rushing over and placing his right hand on Rashiku's shoulder. "Hey kids, sorry about that. And sorry for interrupting whatever... This is. But my name is Kenji Yamanaka, and I am going to be your new teacher. Takayuki-sama has been given a very special mission by the Hokage. One that only he can complete. Sorry for all of the confusion, and sorry for all the apologies... I really wasn't expecting to bump into you guys here. If I'm completely honest haha."

Kenji Yamanaka

“I just wanna be rich and famous, is that too much to ask?!”

^{_______________________________________________}

Kenji sauntered through the village with glee, as he always did. His eyes almost closed whilst a warm smile covered his features, his hands clasped behind his back has he moved. The Yamanaka teenager had such a casually light step that it almost left the dirt of the village grounds entirely undisturbed. Almost.

He whistled along to the chirping of the blue birds of the village, and eventually found himself at a small clearing which contained a quaint little park. "Well, I guess I can take a break. This is a lovely park, after all. I'm sure nobody is in immediate danger." He thought to himself aloud before running his eyes over the layout of his immediate vicinity, eyes squinting and gayly smiling as he saw two young genin sat talking on the bench. "Ah, to be that young and carefree again..."

Meanwhile atop the roof, Akira's heart pumped at a dangerously high rate as he feared detection. But his plan, despite all of the 'bumps' it had to endure; had seemingly gone off without a hitch and the young Senju was able to successfully eavesdrop on his comrades' conversation. Much to his relief and somewhat his disappointment, Akira discovered that it was merely in order to relay an apology that Rashiku had pulled Ami to the side. Infuriated by the lack of camaraderie shown with this action, Akira leapt to his feet and immediately began yelling down to his teammate. "OIOIOIOI! What's the big idea ya goof?! You couldn't have just said all that in front of me?!"

Kenji chuckled lightly to himself at the commotion unfolding among the team of genin, before sitting down on an adjacent bench and crossing his legs. Flicking his scarf back behind his shoulder as it began to unfurl as his back hit the oaken panels. With a moment's reprieve, Kenji decided to take a peek at his assignment, unravelling the scroll with his gloved hands to reveal its contents. Contained within, were his orders to assume command of Team 2, as their Jonin was to he reassigned at tbe personal request of Seiji Hyuuga. Team 2, whose members consisted of Akira Senju, Ami Uzumaki and the mist refugee, Rashiku Karata.

A surly look of confusion spread across the Yamanaka's face as his eyes rapidly examined the dossiers of his first charges as a team leader, then glanced over at the genin whom he had happened upon. Then back to the dossiers, then back to the genin once again before the realization hit him that his laziness had brought about this sheer coincidence as the boy, who Kenji now realised was Rashiku was about to begin some kind of verbal exchange with the boy on the roof, who must have been Akira.

"OI!" the special Jōnin interrupted, shouting at the top of his lungs incredibly uncharacteristically lf himself in order to prevent an argument, or worse, a fight occuring immediately as he assumed command of the team. Quickly rushing over and placing his right hand on Rashiku's shoulder. "Hey kids, sorry about that. And sorry for interrupting whatever... This is. But my name is Kenji Yamanaka, and I am going to be your new teacher. Takayuki-sama has been given a very special mission by the Hokage. One that only he can complete. Sorry for all of the confusion, and sorry for all the apologies... I really wasn't expecting to bump into you guys here. If I'm completely honest haha."

Ami Uzumaki	The Two-Tailed Jinchuuriki
^{_______________________________________________}	Ami felt a sense of relief when Rashiku said that she wasn't a monster. It was something Ami was worried about for a while now. Being a jinchuuriki had its moments. It was still a little rocky with Matatabi, but Ami felt they were getting along quite well. However, Ami was warned by her parents about revealing the secret. The village would turn and shun her, maybe even hurt her too. Yet, hearing Rashiku's reassurance made Ami feel happy that she was overthinking it and her teammates wouldn't be scared of her. Same with their sensei. However, Ami did catch what Rashiku said. His old village saw him as a threat. This made the small girl wonder what led to his family being murdered by the village. She knew the Mist village was different from the leaf village. Only the strongest would survive. But he never said what it was. Ami looked at Rashiku for a moment. Almost afraid to ask. She didn't want to open old wounds or offend him by asking what it was that caused the village that was once his home to decide he and his clan needed to die. Ami decided to ask. She took a deep breath and was about to say a word when something had suddenly happened. Almost entirely out of nowhere, Akira's voice rang. Ami jumped at this surprise, her hair fluffing up almost like a cat. Ami looked up to see Akira on the roof. Had he been there the whole time?! Ami felt her face going red at this. "A-A-Akira-san...?" Ami asked, but before she could ask him how long had been there, another person had arrived. Ami looked up at the jounin as he introduced himself as Kenji Yamanaka. This was a bit too much for Ami. Everything was happening so fast. The girl was taking a deep breath before letting it out. She calmed herself down as Yamanaka explained that Takayuki-sensei was going on a mission and he would be their teacher for now. Ami fidgeted for a moment, as she could hear Matatabi snickering in her head. "U-Um... I-I-I'm Ami U-Uzumaki. It's nice t-to meet you, s-sir" the small girl stuttered out. She was getting nervous. Her stuttering made it apparent.

Ami Uzumaki

The Two-Tailed Jinchuuriki

^{_______________________________________________}

Ami felt a sense of relief when Rashiku said that she wasn't a monster. It was something Ami was worried about for a while now. Being a jinchuuriki had its moments. It was still a little rocky with Matatabi, but Ami felt they were getting along quite well. However, Ami was warned by her parents about revealing the secret. The village would turn and shun her, maybe even hurt her too. Yet, hearing Rashiku's reassurance made Ami feel happy that she was overthinking it and her teammates wouldn't be scared of her. Same with their sensei. However, Ami did catch what Rashiku said. His old village saw him as a threat. This made the small girl wonder what led to his family being murdered by the village. She knew the Mist village was different from the leaf village. Only the strongest would survive. But he never said what it was. Ami looked at Rashiku for a moment. Almost afraid to ask. She didn't want to open old wounds or offend him by asking what it was that caused the village that was once his home to decide he and his clan needed to die.

Ami decided to ask. She took a deep breath and was about to say a word when something had suddenly happened. Almost entirely out of nowhere, Akira's voice rang. Ami jumped at this surprise, her hair fluffing up almost like a cat. Ami looked up to see Akira on the roof. Had he been there the whole time?! Ami felt her face going red at this. "A-A-Akira-san...?" Ami asked, but before she could ask him how long had been there, another person had arrived. Ami looked up at the jounin as he introduced himself as Kenji Yamanaka. This was a bit too much for Ami. Everything was happening so fast. The girl was taking a deep breath before letting it out. She calmed herself down as Yamanaka explained that Takayuki-sensei was going on a mission and he would be their teacher for now.

Ami fidgeted for a moment, as she could hear Matatabi snickering in her head. "U-Um... I-I-I'm Ami U-Uzumaki. It's nice t-to meet you, s-sir" the small girl stuttered out. She was getting nervous. Her stuttering made it apparent.

Hotaru Hyuuga	"What is right and what is law are two sides of the same coin."
^{_______________________________________________}	"My name is Hyuuga Hotaru and I am going to be instructing you from now on. I have been watching your progress closely." He had moments ago given Suto-san a letter and sent her away and moments before that had somehow single-handedly ended the barrage of attacks from all directions. The Hyuuga stood impassively with his hands behind his back and looked at the children appraisingly, but not unkindly until his eyes fell on Kasei. "Hm... but you, Kasei Burai, you will not be joining us", he proclaimed and turned away, "Not unexpected for a Kasei to fail here, but I had hopes for you. No matter..." It was cold, but the young Kasei wasn't without hope. He may even be reassigned, though his own recommendation was remedial training or perhaps placement within his clan. But, it wasn't his decision to make, ultimately. He would give the bureaucrats his notes and they would go through the proper channels. Beyond this team's make up, he had no further investment and with that matter taken care of, he reached into his robe. He had there his notebook. Since his recommendations for Hyuuga Kenshiro and the Spiga were to continue on this team, there would be no need to hand them over later. He could, instead, do with them what he had intended all along. "I have listed here my own observations about you and your performance operating under Suto-sensei", he said pulling two pages neatly out of the notebook and handing them towards the two remaining students, "Please review them thoroughly and exchange notes... perhaps... fraternize and build rapport with one another. Tomorrow, there will be a replacement third and training will begin earnestly. Congratulations on being accepted to Team 1. This team is... special, though I cannot tell you why just yet. I would ask that you please accommodate my wishes and fulfill your team obligations and you will find it easy to get along with me." He bowed slightly and held it for a few seconds before returning to his upright position, "Dismissed."

Hotaru Hyuuga

"What is right and what is law are two sides of the same coin."

^{_______________________________________________}

"My name is Hyuuga Hotaru and I am going to be instructing you from now on. I have been watching your progress closely."

He had moments ago given Suto-san a letter and sent her away and moments before that had somehow single-handedly ended the barrage of attacks from all directions. The Hyuuga stood impassively with his hands behind his back and looked at the children appraisingly, but not unkindly until his eyes fell on Kasei.

"Hm... but you, Kasei Burai, you will not be joining us", he proclaimed and turned away, "Not unexpected for a Kasei to fail here, but I had hopes for you. No matter..."

It was cold, but the young Kasei wasn't without hope. He may even be reassigned, though his own recommendation was remedial training or perhaps placement within his clan. But, it wasn't his decision to make, ultimately. He would give the bureaucrats his notes and they would go through the proper channels. Beyond this team's make up, he had no further investment and with that matter taken care of, he reached into his robe. He had there his notebook. Since his recommendations for Hyuuga Kenshiro and the Spiga were to continue on this team, there would be no need to hand them over later. He could, instead, do with them what he had intended all along.

"I have listed here my own observations about you and your performance operating under Suto-sensei", he said pulling two pages neatly out of the notebook and handing them towards the two remaining students, "Please review them thoroughly and exchange notes... perhaps... fraternize and build rapport with one another. Tomorrow, there will be a replacement third and training will begin earnestly. Congratulations on being accepted to Team 1. This team is... special, though I cannot tell you why just yet. I would ask that you please accommodate my wishes and fulfill your team obligations and you will find it easy to get along with me."

He bowed slightly and held it for a few seconds before returning to his upright position, "Dismissed."


Rashiku Karata __________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________	_{________________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Every night of my life I watch angels fall from the sky Every time that the sun still sets I pray they don't take mine I'm on the front line Don't worry I'll be fine The story is just beginning I say goodbye to my weakness So long to my regret And now I know that I'm alive}
______________________________________ The tension in the air Rashiku felt thinned the more he was able to talk to Ami. Explaining what had happened was far easier than he expected, and she was smart enough, or accepting enough, to listen to his plan. He was just starting to relax, and even had his thoughts drift to where to invite her to eat, as admittedly he hadn't brought anything with him. Of course though it couldn't last, with Akira's sudden shouting. "You couldn't have just said all that in front of me?!" All of the discomfort of not knowing what to say returned. As Rashiku thought of it, he could have had Akira present for his explanation, however it would have been far more difficult. Talking to one person was hard enough, having to juggle two would feel impossible! Especially when one would blurt out so much like Akira did for the whole morning. Besides, this all had nothing to do with Akira anyways! Ami was the one owed the apology. Exasperated, Rashiku snapped back up at the other boy on the roof. "No! You would have interrupted!" Before the kids went any further, they were interrupted by someone else, introducing themselves as Kenji and... that he would be their new team leader. For another moment, Rashiku was quiet, a look on disbelief on his face at the sudden change. He went through the testing with Takayuki for nothing, almost stabbed Ami and everything else. All of it was discarded because of the Leaf Village apparently being so disorganized that they wouldn't have given proper prior notice. Or if the development really was so sudden, did they assign a replacement without any thought? This new assigned instructor seemed both quite young to be teaching, and seemed less confident than their previous one. The boy wondered if this was even a good setup. Then again, he'd barely gotten to know Takayuki and wouldn't get the chance to tell him that he was wrong. With a frustrated sigh, Rashiku lowered his head with a half nod. 'Ridiculous...'	_{________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ One push is all you'll need A fist-first philosophy We watch with wounded eyes So I hope you recognize I'm on the front line Don't worry I'll be fine The story is just beginning I say goodbye to my weakness So long to the regret And now I see the world through diamond eyes} ________________ ________________

Rashiku Karata __________________

______________________________________
______________________________________

_{________________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
Every night of my life
I watch angels fall from the sky
Every time that the sun still sets
I pray they don't take mine
I'm on the front line
Don't worry I'll be fine
The story is just beginning
I say goodbye to my weakness
So long to my regret
And now I know that I'm alive}

______________________________________
The tension in the air Rashiku felt thinned the more he was able to talk to Ami. Explaining what had happened was far easier than he expected, and she was smart enough, or accepting enough, to listen to his plan. He was just starting to relax, and even had his thoughts drift to where to invite her to eat, as admittedly he hadn't brought anything with him. Of course though it couldn't last, with Akira's sudden shouting. "You couldn't have just said all that in front of me?!" All of the discomfort of not knowing what to say returned. As Rashiku thought of it, he could have had Akira present for his explanation, however it would have been far more difficult. Talking to one person was hard enough, having to juggle two would feel impossible! Especially when one would blurt out so much like Akira did for the whole morning. Besides, this all had nothing to do with Akira anyways! Ami was the one owed the apology. Exasperated, Rashiku snapped back up at the other boy on the roof. "No! You would have interrupted!"

Before the kids went any further, they were interrupted by someone else, introducing themselves as Kenji and... that he would be their new team leader. For another moment, Rashiku was quiet, a look on disbelief on his face at the sudden change. He went through the testing with Takayuki for nothing, almost stabbed Ami and everything else. All of it was discarded because of the Leaf Village apparently being so disorganized that they wouldn't have given proper prior notice. Or if the development really was so sudden, did they assign a replacement without any thought? This new assigned instructor seemed both quite young to be teaching, and seemed less confident than their previous one. The boy wondered if this was even a good setup. Then again, he'd barely gotten to know Takayuki and wouldn't get the chance to tell him that he was wrong. With a frustrated sigh, Rashiku lowered his head with a half nod. 'Ridiculous...'

_{________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
One push is all you'll need
A fist-first philosophy
We watch with wounded eyes
So I hope you recognize
I'm on the front line
Don't worry I'll be fine
The story is just beginning
I say goodbye to my weakness
So long to the regret
And now I see the world through diamond eyes}
________________
________________

Koji Takuma	"Do you really want to die?"
^{_______________________________________________}	Except it wasn't really just one more. Nijira's courageous little pup Komi of course sprang into action to protect his master, shifting his form to be a double of the unconscious boy. 'So that's the Beast Mimicry of his clan...' Admittedly this posed a problem. The lesson being taught to the students was useless on such a loyal beast. A creature who's life was, even to itself, nothing in comparison to his master's. And on top of that, it was not a lesson that a beast needed to learn. Humans were the ones who developed pretentious notions of scoffing at death. This animal already knew that, and would willingly accept it to save Nijira. 'I've got to take care of him fast.' Komi charged at Takuma with surprising speed and force, tearing through the trees to get at him. Even from a distance Koji could feel the wind force and change in pressure in the air. Quickly Koji readied a few of his kunai, but hesitated. With how the pup was spinning, it was impossible to aim at a specific part of the body. There were general locations, and the head, but that was far too risky. Instead, he got another idea, and reeled his arm back far and quickly started channeling chakra to his fingers. Another Supersonic through. The force of the projectile could interfere with Komi's rotation, blowing him out of the air to be vulnerable. Takuma inhaled for the throw, and went to lurch forward, and a sharp pain echoed through his upper body discharging the chakra. One of Naruko's hits to his side landed more solidly than he'd thought, bruising right in one of his middle ribs. It wouldn't be a further problem now that he knew the pain was there, but Komi was rapidly approaching, nearly upon him. Splinters and hard clumps of dirt rained down on Koji as he swiftly moved back, doing all he could to avoid the pup's drilling chase that tore through the ground and trees. The jounin was simply running away from the onslaught, looking overwhelmed, as it was all he could do. His only option. Through the forest he led the pup in circles, always returning to one spot that he planted his hand on the ground briefly, until finally by the third time he stopped and suddenly and put his fingers together, activating the tags he'd placed just as Komi was jumping at him once more. The gravity in that spot suddenly multiplied many, many times, over, and anything in it immediately crashed to the ground with crushing force. It was intended to stop the drilling pup, but instead, after a substitution jutsu... the demeanor of the target caught in the trap suddenly switched to a desperate owner trying to protect their beloved friend. Nijira slammed flat into the ground, his weight pressing him downwards so hard it was difficult to breath, and his bones felt ready to break. Looking over to where Komi had landed, Takuma swiftly charged him, was up to him before he could recover, and slammed the pup with his palm, leaving a mark that began draining the remainder of his spent chakra. Komi was restrained until the drain left him unable to move more, reverted back to his small canine form, before Jira heard the footsteps return to him. "You... Failed to do anything at all. And after you're dead you won't be able to protect anything. Especially not that pup of yours over there who's chakra will seep out until his heart stops. You can't even complain about it." Koji gave the boy little time to argue, climbing onto his back at the same time as disabling the tags. A kunai went right to his throat and cut it, while the sting in his back made him arch and cause the blood to spurt out faster until his vision faded once more. Footsteps approached the whimpering Komi, as the man laid his hand on him and removed the seal. "I'm sorry little pup. But don't fear... he's fine. Come here." Gently, Koji lifted up Komi who didn't have much strength left to bite, but if he did the man simply let him, as he carried him over to the three students. All of them were leaned up against a large tree, side by side, with most of their wounds bandaged and kunai removed. A thick, viscous ointment had been spread over the cuts on their necks, with much of the blood having been wiped away. Komi found himself placed into Jira's lap, before the man pulled out a packet of some sort. Giving it a shake, he tore off the top of it, and waved it underneath the noses of the students for a couple of seconds, making sure to hold it a bit further away from Jira's more sensitive senses. The intense odor from the packet would wake them up in a daze, likely leaving them queasy for at least a moment. "The test is over! We're no longer fighting!" Takuma said to his students in a loud, authoritative voice, but as soon as he'd said that, he spoke again, much quieter. His voice somber, as if he were... regretful. "You have just now... experienced what it is like to die. Whatever you felt, thought, wanted... It ended right there. That was your last moment. My goal as your sensei is to make it so you will never experience that again."

Koji Takuma

"Do you really want to die?"

^{_______________________________________________}

Except it wasn't really just one more. Nijira's courageous little pup Komi of course sprang into action to protect his master, shifting his form to be a double of the unconscious boy. 'So that's the Beast Mimicry of his clan...' Admittedly this posed a problem. The lesson being taught to the students was useless on such a loyal beast. A creature who's life was, even to itself, nothing in comparison to his master's. And on top of that, it was not a lesson that a beast needed to learn. Humans were the ones who developed pretentious notions of scoffing at death. This animal already knew that, and would willingly accept it to save Nijira. 'I've got to take care of him fast.'

Komi charged at Takuma with surprising speed and force, tearing through the trees to get at him. Even from a distance Koji could feel the wind force and change in pressure in the air. Quickly Koji readied a few of his kunai, but hesitated. With how the pup was spinning, it was impossible to aim at a specific part of the body. There were general locations, and the head, but that was far too risky. Instead, he got another idea, and reeled his arm back far and quickly started channeling chakra to his fingers. Another Supersonic through. The force of the projectile could interfere with Komi's rotation, blowing him out of the air to be vulnerable. Takuma inhaled for the throw, and went to lurch forward, and a sharp pain echoed through his upper body discharging the chakra. One of Naruko's hits to his side landed more solidly than he'd thought, bruising right in one of his middle ribs. It wouldn't be a further problem now that he knew the pain was there, but Komi was rapidly approaching, nearly upon him.

Splinters and hard clumps of dirt rained down on Koji as he swiftly moved back, doing all he could to avoid the pup's drilling chase that tore through the ground and trees. The jounin was simply running away from the onslaught, looking overwhelmed, as it was all he could do. His only option. Through the forest he led the pup in circles, always returning to one spot that he planted his hand on the ground briefly, until finally by the third time he stopped and suddenly and put his fingers together, activating the tags he'd placed just as Komi was jumping at him once more.

The gravity in that spot suddenly multiplied many, many times, over, and anything in it immediately crashed to the ground with crushing force. It was intended to stop the drilling pup, but instead, after a substitution jutsu... the demeanor of the target caught in the trap suddenly switched to a desperate owner trying to protect their beloved friend. Nijira slammed flat into the ground, his weight pressing him downwards so hard it was difficult to breath, and his bones felt ready to break. Looking over to where Komi had landed, Takuma swiftly charged him, was up to him before he could recover, and slammed the pup with his palm, leaving a mark that began draining the remainder of his spent chakra. Komi was restrained until the drain left him unable to move more, reverted back to his small canine form, before Jira heard the footsteps return to him. "You... Failed to do anything at all. And after you're dead you won't be able to protect anything. Especially not that pup of yours over there who's chakra will seep out until his heart stops. You can't even complain about it." Koji gave the boy little time to argue, climbing onto his back at the same time as disabling the tags. A kunai went right to his throat and cut it, while the sting in his back made him arch and cause the blood to spurt out faster until his vision faded once more.

Footsteps approached the whimpering Komi, as the man laid his hand on him and removed the seal. "I'm sorry little pup. But don't fear... he's fine. Come here." Gently, Koji lifted up Komi who didn't have much strength left to bite, but if he did the man simply let him, as he carried him over to the three students. All of them were leaned up against a large tree, side by side, with most of their wounds bandaged and kunai removed. A thick, viscous ointment had been spread over the cuts on their necks, with much of the blood having been wiped away. Komi found himself placed into Jira's lap, before the man pulled out a packet of some sort. Giving it a shake, he tore off the top of it, and waved it underneath the noses of the students for a couple of seconds, making sure to hold it a bit further away from Jira's more sensitive senses. The intense odor from the packet would wake them up in a daze, likely leaving them queasy for at least a moment.

"The test is over! We're no longer fighting!" Takuma said to his students in a loud, authoritative voice, but as soon as he'd said that, he spoke again, much quieter. His voice somber, as if he were... regretful.
"You have just now... experienced what it is like to die. Whatever you felt, thought, wanted... It ended right there. That was your last moment. My goal as your sensei is to make it so you will never experience that again."


^{_____________________________________________________________________}	Shumatsu should have known this was coming. Years and years of having to babysit at the stupid academy should have been a sign, that inevitably he would be should into a sensei position for whatever team of twerps his younger brother was stuck with. The sound was not a large village, their resources were limited. As were actual qualified Jounin so it was no wonder why this had happened. Also probably he pissed off whomever was doing the assignments and wasn't that a freakin laugh. He would have to send a personal thank you in the form of a jar of angry bees...then he would have to catch bees, so maybe not. So for this reason Shumatsu found himself at the academy not to stare at a bunch of children in a classroom and laugh at their misery as he handed them failing grades for whatever test he had been asked to proctor, no he was here to pick up his brat of a brother and two teammates. THREE kids to be responsible for? Had no one noticed how much of a 'stellar' job he did at raising Shinda? Kid couldn't hold a conversation with a rock. Shumatsu opened the door to the classroom with what was probably an unnecessary amount of force judging at the cracking sound in the wall and the sensei looking startled who was handing out assignments. She stared at him warily as he stared back before turning to look at the students in the room. Graduation class looked small this year...actually no it was probably the same. It would be smaller in a year or so anyway, when kids moved up to chunin and then didn't come back from missions they couldn't handle... "YO! Shinda I'm here to pick you up from school!" He waved at his brother who blinked slowly and waved back trying to match the energy Shumatsu was giving off. What a little freak. "Yeah you and whatever little delinquents have also been foisted on me. What are there names?" The sensei scrambled to read something off the paper in hand before Shumatsu cut them off. "Who cares. Probably not going to pass the next step anyway. WELP! Let's get the frick out of this dump. Hurry your asses up." Then he turned on his heel and sauntered back out the way he came. If the little shits didn't come that meant he wouldn't have to worry about a team after all. A win for him. Unfortunately he could hear more then Shinda scrambling to follow so it seemed luck wasn't with him today. He walked till they were a decent enough distance from the school, in what could have counted as a training ground if you squinted hard enough and then rounded on the team. "I don't care much for introductions, honestly it's not my business if you want to get to know each other. I'm Shumatsu, Im your sensei till you fail this first test then you can fuck off and I don't want to hear from you again." Shumatsu pointed at the cliff face nearby. "See that thing. You all get to the top you pass. Easy peasy right? All of you to the top got it? One of you doesn't count, sometimes you gotta carry dead weight. So figure it out." With that Shumatsu leaped up to the top of the cliff before peering down to the edge and calling back. "YOU HAVE TILL SUNDOWN!"

^{_____________________________________________________________________}

Shumatsu should have known this was coming. Years and years of having to babysit at the stupid academy should have been a sign, that inevitably he would be should into a sensei position for whatever team of twerps his younger brother was stuck with. The sound was not a large village, their resources were limited. As were actual qualified Jounin so it was no wonder why this had happened. Also probably he pissed off whomever was doing the assignments and wasn't that a freakin laugh. He would have to send a personal thank you in the form of a jar of angry bees...then he would have to catch bees, so maybe not.

So for this reason Shumatsu found himself at the academy not to stare at a bunch of children in a classroom and laugh at their misery as he handed them failing grades for whatever test he had been asked to proctor, no he was here to pick up his brat of a brother and two teammates. THREE kids to be responsible for? Had no one noticed how much of a 'stellar' job he did at raising Shinda? Kid couldn't hold a conversation with a rock.

Shumatsu opened the door to the classroom with what was probably an unnecessary amount of force judging at the cracking sound in the wall and the sensei looking startled who was handing out assignments. She stared at him warily as he stared back before turning to look at the students in the room. Graduation class looked small this year...actually no it was probably the same. It would be smaller in a year or so anyway, when kids moved up to chunin and then didn't come back from missions they couldn't handle...

"YO! Shinda I'm here to pick you up from school!" He waved at his brother who blinked slowly and waved back trying to match the energy Shumatsu was giving off. What a little freak. "Yeah you and whatever little delinquents have also been foisted on me. What are there names?" The sensei scrambled to read something off the paper in hand before Shumatsu cut them off.

"Who cares. Probably not going to pass the next step anyway. WELP! Let's get the frick out of this dump. Hurry your asses up." Then he turned on his heel and sauntered back out the way he came. If the little shits didn't come that meant he wouldn't have to worry about a team after all. A win for him. Unfortunately he could hear more then Shinda scrambling to follow so it seemed luck wasn't with him today.

He walked till they were a decent enough distance from the school, in what could have counted as a training ground if you squinted hard enough and then rounded on the team.

"I don't care much for introductions, honestly it's not my business if you want to get to know each other. I'm Shumatsu, Im your sensei till you fail this first test then you can fuck off and I don't want to hear from you again." Shumatsu pointed at the cliff face nearby. "See that thing. You all get to the top you pass. Easy peasy right? All of you to the top got it? One of you doesn't count, sometimes you gotta carry dead weight. So figure it out." With that Shumatsu leaped up to the top of the cliff before peering down to the edge and calling back. "YOU HAVE TILL SUNDOWN!"

Nijira Inuzuka	"Don't you dare think that this is over! I won't just feed on the scraps of your glory! I'll beat you, and even then I'll keep pushing! I'll beat every single shinobi in the world! I won't stop until everyone acknowledges me!"
^{_______________________________________________}	"HAGH", coughed Jira, roaring back to life and sitting bolt upright. Something was tickling his neck and as he smacked his neck, he felt something foul-smelling, but warm... sticky... Memories of piercing... red... His hand clenched where the wound had been and he looked around for his best friend only to find Koji standing there with some packet. Komi, who was trailing a few yards behind, ran and leaped into Jira's arms, immediately beginning to lick his chin while whining worriedly. Jira smiled and hugged him tightly. "Hey... I'm okay...", he said, looking around him. Besides him was Naruko and further off was Gorudo. They were all alive... so it was just a test afteraaaAA!!! "Pbthbth! Aw! That's my mouth", Jira exclaimed closing his eyes and shaking his head as Komi's flat rough tongue haphazardly annoyed him lovingly. In desperation, Jira slid his back up the tree and stood up and Komi slid to the ground and ran around his feet instead, shaking his butt excitedly. Jira's body was a lot less excited to be standing, he felt as if he weighed a thousand pounds. He didn't think anything was broken, but in this state, it'd have been hard to fight. Keh... It wasn't as if he'd done much fighting before he was unconscious either. "You... Failed to do anything at all. And after you're dead you won't be able to protect anything. Especially not that pup of yours over there who's chakra will seep out until his heart stops. You can't even complain about it." Those words echoed in his mind with a grimace that turned into a scowl and all he could think about was how unfair it was. Of course he'd lose to a jounin, if he was going all out! What kind of test was that supposed to be?!? And it wasn't like his teammates were any help. They just ran into danger! If they just did what he told them to do instead of... the wafting smell of insta-ramen tickled his nose and his face started turning a bright red. He shook the feeling away and grit his teeth, unable to get the last bits of blood out of his face. Ugh! That idiot! Sh-she wasn't even paying attention to where she was aiming... th-those! A-and Gorudo wasn't any better! What was he thinking trying to outsmart sensei all by himself. Yeah! Gorudo was an idiot. Luckily, Koji interrupted Jira's attempts to distract himself with arbitrary anger at Gorudo by addressing the team as a whole. "The test is over! We're no longer fighting", Koji announced, like that meant anything. They were alive and Koji hadn't tied them up and wasn't attacking them. Of course they weren't fighting. Of course the test was over. Jira didn't understand why some people really had to point out the obvious. Probably because they were used to dealing with idiots like his teammates. Koji continued, "You have just now... experienced what it is like to die", he said and Jira's hands balled up into fists, "Whatever you felt, thought, wanted... It ended right there. That was your last moment", and Jira wanted to wipe that smug look off his face, "My goal as your sensei is to make it so you will never experience that again." He looked down for a second and then back at his sensei, his eyes leveled at his, narrowed and burning. He took a step forward and Komi hid behind his legs. It was a second before he began to speak, but when he did, it was a low growl. "I... experienced death? You think you killed me with your kunai? You think what I care what you think of me", he snarled, "Being dead is knowing that what I feel, think, and want don't matter at all. It's knowing that the only thing that matters is power and that I don't have any. It's knowing that because of fate, I am weak. I died to your kunai?!? ASSHOLE! I'M ALREADY DEAD! I'LL BE ALIVE WHEN I MAKE YOU SURRENDER TO ME!"

Nijira Inuzuka

^{_______________________________________________}

"HAGH", coughed Jira, roaring back to life and sitting bolt upright. Something was tickling his neck and as he smacked his neck, he felt something foul-smelling, but warm... sticky... Memories of piercing... red... His hand clenched where the wound had been and he looked around for his best friend only to find Koji standing there with some packet. Komi, who was trailing a few yards behind, ran and leaped into Jira's arms, immediately beginning to lick his chin while whining worriedly. Jira smiled and hugged him tightly.

"Hey... I'm okay...", he said, looking around him. Besides him was Naruko and further off was Gorudo. They were all alive... so it was just a test afteraaaAA!!!

"Pbthbth! Aw! That's my mouth", Jira exclaimed closing his eyes and shaking his head as Komi's flat rough tongue haphazardly annoyed him lovingly. In desperation, Jira slid his back up the tree and stood up and Komi slid to the ground and ran around his feet instead, shaking his butt excitedly. Jira's body was a lot less excited to be standing, he felt as if he weighed a thousand pounds. He didn't think anything was broken, but in this state, it'd have been hard to fight. Keh... It wasn't as if he'd done much fighting before he was unconscious either.

"You... Failed to do anything at all. And after you're dead you won't be able to protect anything. Especially not that pup of yours over there who's chakra will seep out until his heart stops. You can't even complain about it."

Those words echoed in his mind with a grimace that turned into a scowl and all he could think about was how unfair it was. Of course he'd lose to a jounin, if he was going all out! What kind of test was that supposed to be?!? And it wasn't like his teammates were any help. They just ran into danger! If they just did what he told them to do instead of... the wafting smell of insta-ramen tickled his nose and his face started turning a bright red. He shook the feeling away and grit his teeth, unable to get the last bits of blood out of his face. Ugh! That idiot! Sh-she wasn't even paying attention to where she was aiming... th-those! A-and Gorudo wasn't any better! What was he thinking trying to outsmart sensei all by himself. Yeah! Gorudo was an idiot. Luckily, Koji interrupted Jira's attempts to distract himself with arbitrary anger at Gorudo by addressing the team as a whole.

"The test is over! We're no longer fighting", Koji announced, like that meant anything. They were alive and Koji hadn't tied them up and wasn't attacking them. Of course they weren't fighting. Of course the test was over. Jira didn't understand why some people really had to point out the obvious. Probably because they were used to dealing with idiots like his teammates. Koji continued, "You have just now... experienced what it is like to die", he said and Jira's hands balled up into fists, "Whatever you felt, thought, wanted... It ended right there. That was your last moment", and Jira wanted to wipe that smug look off his face, "My goal as your sensei is to make it so you will never experience that again."

He looked down for a second and then back at his sensei, his eyes leveled at his, narrowed and burning. He took a step forward and Komi hid behind his legs. It was a second before he began to speak, but when he did, it was a low growl.

"I... experienced death? You think you killed me with your kunai? You think what I care what you think of me", he snarled, "Being dead is knowing that what I feel, think, and want don't matter at all. It's knowing that the only thing that matters is power and that I don't have any. It's knowing that because of fate, I am weak. I died to your kunai?!? ASSHOLE! I'M ALREADY DEAD! I'LL BE ALIVE WHEN I MAKE YOU SURRENDER TO ME!"

Team Botan Nakano	Kamui Kaiyou \| Makaira Kumonga
^{_______________________________________________}	"We need to leave. NOW! It all happened so quickly. Not a moment had Ichika returned that the waves almost parted beneath, the sea boiled and foamed, and from out of the depths, a monstrous dull yellow hand burst forth and caught the remains of the falling cliff and was followed shortly by the rising grinning maw of something truly gigantic. Botan nearly fell backwards at the sight of it. He'd... seen the eight tails rampage, but never up close. And here was the one tail, tremendous and grinning and yelling, easily crushing the falling cliff face that had threatened to end them a second ago into sand; and that sand whirled like a storm becoming part of the creatures rising body. The whole sea trembled with its every movement. Atop that behemoth's head was the water-logged, purple form of Tomoyuki. Was he alive? He must be if he was still connected to the beast... There were rumbles from deep beneath the waves, tossing the water-bound slug all around, along with all those upon her. That was... probably the caves down below. Botan's heart sank. He could only hope that Arisu was still alive... who knew? Maybe she stood a better chance than he did... He clung to Katsuyu as best he could and rushed to intercept his genin. Maka was on her feet and well balanced, as expected, but Kamui hadn't moved a muscle and was in the exact same cross-legged position, but sideways and about to fall off the slug! Botan grabbed him by the collar of his kimono and pulled him back up. "S-some weather we're having... heh... heh...", he heard one of the Leaf genin say. He looked over to see the pink-haired fae boy with a decided worried smile backing up against Mizuraki-sama for balance. Remi was his name, Botan recalled, as he held Kamui's collar tightly. Sea water whipped his face as he pressed back towards his brother and the others. "I can... reseal the beast but... it would be more certain with your help... The Mokuten Technique is well regarded in-", but Botan was interrupted when Kamui's eyes burst opened and glowed white. The boy stood up, his muscles tensed, his face straining and baring teeth, and, as he arched his back, the unmistakable visage of a tail of that same horrible red chakra sprouted behind him: he'd awakened his own demon. Botan let go of his genin's collar and put a hand on his shoulder and Kamui dropped his head and panted a little. He was in control. He jetted towards the hulking grinning one tail, ignoring the laughter and landing a punch in it center mass and giant plumes of coral burst from it like enormous petals of blue lily. Kamui let out a roar as the one tailed demon of sand tried to close around the tiny turtle jinchuuriki and swallow him up in his stomach. Botan didn't see the boy blast through the beast's sand stomach, leaving a hole, which would quickly be filled in. The slug was moving quickly away from the area with great speed, taking advantage of the One-Tail's distraction to make a quick surge... That meant that he'd have to pray that Kamui would not succumb and that he could maintain control. There wasn't even the pretense of the element of surprise now; they would just have to make their assault. As soon as they were within range, a huge dragon made of water rose from the waves and chased towards them and Hiro, who had hitherto been silent, jumped for the dragon before anyone could stop him and whipped a huge blade of wind through the center of it, horizontally bisecting it. The lower jaw fell back into the water, but the top shakily continued forward ramming into Hiro and dragging him into the sea with it. There was no time to stop. More attacks were coming. Botan pushed to the head of the slug, sat cross-legged, concentrated, and made a collection of hand seals, one after the other. The ocean beneath them began to bubble. A large field of small bubbles rose out of the water and Botan reached out with his hands, opened his eyes wide and lightning leapt from his hands into the bubbles. With a wave of his arms, the little balls of electrical water began to bombard the beach and all those on it. It was costly, but it would hopefully provide enough cover fire that they would lose no one else. Meanwhile, the caves below had begun to collapse and whole sections flooded with water. The children had been separated by falling debris, but so had their opponents. Now, Natsuo and Bakuto were locked in a cave with the sword girl while the earth user boy was unconscious under rocks and bleeding out. The third was no where to be seen and wherever Ari and Yue were, neither genin could know either. "Give up your mission", said the masked sword girl, her sword drawn and beginning to glow, "Or you will die here."

Team Botan Nakano

Kamui Kaiyou | Makaira Kumonga

^{_______________________________________________}

"We need to leave. NOW!

It all happened so quickly. Not a moment had Ichika returned that the waves almost parted beneath, the sea boiled and foamed, and from out of the depths, a monstrous dull yellow hand burst forth and caught the remains of the falling cliff and was followed shortly by the rising grinning maw of something truly gigantic. Botan nearly fell backwards at the sight of it. He'd... seen the eight tails rampage, but never up close. And here was the one tail, tremendous and grinning and yelling, easily crushing the falling cliff face that had threatened to end them a second ago into sand; and that sand whirled like a storm becoming part of the creatures rising body. The whole sea trembled with its every movement.

Atop that behemoth's head was the water-logged, purple form of Tomoyuki. Was he alive? He must be if he was still connected to the beast... There were rumbles from deep beneath the waves, tossing the water-bound slug all around, along with all those upon her. That was... probably the caves down below. Botan's heart sank. He could only hope that Arisu was still alive... who knew? Maybe she stood a better chance than he did... He clung to Katsuyu as best he could and rushed to intercept his genin.

Maka was on her feet and well balanced, as expected, but Kamui hadn't moved a muscle and was in the exact same cross-legged position, but sideways and about to fall off the slug! Botan grabbed him by the collar of his kimono and pulled him back up.

"S-some weather we're having... heh... heh...", he heard one of the Leaf genin say. He looked over to see the pink-haired fae boy with a decided worried smile backing up against Mizuraki-sama for balance. Remi was his name, Botan recalled, as he held Kamui's collar tightly. Sea water whipped his face as he pressed back towards his brother and the others.

"I can... reseal the beast but... it would be more certain with your help... The Mokuten Technique is well regarded in-", but Botan was interrupted when Kamui's eyes burst opened and glowed white. The boy stood up, his muscles tensed, his face straining and baring teeth, and, as he arched his back, the unmistakable visage of a tail of that same horrible red chakra sprouted behind him: he'd awakened his own demon. Botan let go of his genin's collar and put a hand on his shoulder and Kamui dropped his head and panted a little. He was in control.

He jetted towards the hulking grinning one tail, ignoring the laughter and landing a punch in it center mass and giant plumes of coral burst from it like enormous petals of blue lily. Kamui let out a roar as the one tailed demon of sand tried to close around the tiny turtle jinchuuriki and swallow him up in his stomach. Botan didn't see the boy blast through the beast's sand stomach, leaving a hole, which would quickly be filled in. The slug was moving quickly away from the area with great speed, taking advantage of the One-Tail's distraction to make a quick surge... That meant that he'd have to pray that Kamui would not succumb and that he could maintain control. There wasn't even the pretense of the element of surprise now; they would just have to make their assault.

As soon as they were within range, a huge dragon made of water rose from the waves and chased towards them and Hiro, who had hitherto been silent, jumped for the dragon before anyone could stop him and whipped a huge blade of wind through the center of it, horizontally bisecting it. The lower jaw fell back into the water, but the top shakily continued forward ramming into Hiro and dragging him into the sea with it. There was no time to stop. More attacks were coming. Botan pushed to the head of the slug, sat cross-legged, concentrated, and made a collection of hand seals, one after the other. The ocean beneath them began to bubble. A large field of small bubbles rose out of the water and Botan reached out with his hands, opened his eyes wide and lightning leapt from his hands into the bubbles. With a wave of his arms, the little balls of electrical water began to bombard the beach and all those on it. It was costly, but it would hopefully provide enough cover fire that they would lose no one else.

Meanwhile, the caves below had begun to collapse and whole sections flooded with water. The children had been separated by falling debris, but so had their opponents. Now, Natsuo and Bakuto were locked in a cave with the sword girl while the earth user boy was unconscious under rocks and bleeding out. The third was no where to be seen and wherever Ari and Yue were, neither genin could know either.

"Give up your mission", said the masked sword girl, her sword drawn and beginning to glow, "Or you will die here."

Rei Chinmoku	Location: Sound Village \| A scary, dumb cliff.
^{_______________________________________________}	Rei had been paying attention as well as he was able. Their sensei was kinda boring, but he couldn't actually say that, he just helped where he was able and did what he was told. He knew Shinda from the few times they had lunch together that one time and Rei asking if Shinda if he and his brother shared the same room or if it was different rooms. He didn't remember what had started the conversation, but Rei had suddenly gotten curious. You only didn't share rooms if someone was married or over a certain age or something. Honestly, it'd been a revelation to hear that not everyone's family was large and that not everybody shared rooms all the time. What was he thinking about, again? Right, so Rei had gotten inspiration of one of his more recent patterns from some leaves he saw and the style of someone's hair that caught in the sunlight. It wasn't Shinda's but it was dark like his. He was startled out of his mental wandering when the door slammed open and Shinda's brother said it was time for him to go. Rei looked over to his as-close-to-a-friend-as-he'd-had-since-he-started-here, a little worried for him, and then remembered that they had been assigned on the same team. Right! Sensei had been reading off all of the other teams and writing them on the board and Rei mentally checked out somewhere in there after getting who he was on a team with. The abrupt leaving had him looking at Shinda, then glancing back to the board to see what the other name was while he scrambled to get his little bag packed and hurry after Shumatsu. It was a long walk and if not for his slight fear of Shumatsu, he might have tried to 'strike up convo', as someone in class had put it once. Instead, it was Rei following along in awkward silence, half jogging every now and then because Shumatsu was very big and took big strides and for someone Rei hadn't seen want to do a lot, he walked awfully fast all the time, according to Rei. By the time they finally got to apparently what their destination was, Rei felt a little out of breath. He bent over, hands on knees for a moment and then straightened, leaning back and looking up at the cliff being pointed to. It was huge! He had just enough time to look back up to Shumatsu in a 'really though??' before the adult leaped to the top of this thing like it'd been a tree. Sundown?? It was midday already! He huffed and pouted, looking this stupid cliff up and down. This was going to mess up his clothes, wasn't it. He'd just finished cleaning this jacket from the last fight he had. And now it was going to be dirty and probably get damaged! He contemplated taking it off to climb, but the soft fabric was going to be the only thing between his pasty arms and some sharp rocks. Another deep breath. "Okay, we can do this, you guys." A little fist pump. The uncertainty in his soft voice was apparent. He couldn't fail this though. They had to make it. It was a group effort. His team was his new group. All activities should be done in groups. Doing things alone was frowned upon unless it met one of the exception rules. This did not meet exception rule requirements. He made his way to the base of the cliff, looked back at the other two, giving an awkward low wave with his hand, and started to climb. There was probably and easier way to do this, he mused as soon as his palm touched a sharp rock and he pulled back to find a different grabbing point. He was a shinobi! He could not bring shame to his family. He had to do his very best. Even if he fell, he had to sacrifice for the group. He needed to make sure that his teammate made it. That was the rule. The group always comes before the self. @cadday

Rei Chinmoku

Location: Sound Village | A scary, dumb cliff.

^{_______________________________________________}

Rei had been paying attention as well as he was able. Their sensei was kinda boring, but he couldn't actually say that, he just helped where he was able and did what he was told. He knew Shinda from the few times they had lunch together that one time and Rei asking if Shinda if he and his brother shared the same room or if it was different rooms. He didn't remember what had started the conversation, but Rei had suddenly gotten curious. You only didn't share rooms if someone was married or over a certain age or something. Honestly, it'd been a revelation to hear that not everyone's family was large and that not everybody shared rooms all the time.

What was he thinking about, again? Right, so Rei had gotten inspiration of one of his more recent patterns from some leaves he saw and the style of someone's hair that caught in the sunlight. It wasn't Shinda's but it was dark like his. He was startled out of his mental wandering when the door slammed open and Shinda's brother said it was time for him to go. Rei looked over to his as-close-to-a-friend-as-he'd-had-since-he-started-here, a little worried for him, and then remembered that they had been assigned on the same team. Right! Sensei had been reading off all of the other teams and writing them on the board and Rei mentally checked out somewhere in there after getting who he was on a team with. The abrupt leaving had him looking at Shinda, then glancing back to the board to see what the other name was while he scrambled to get his little bag packed and hurry after Shumatsu.

It was a long walk and if not for his slight fear of Shumatsu, he might have tried to 'strike up convo', as someone in class had put it once. Instead, it was Rei following along in awkward silence, half jogging every now and then because Shumatsu was very big and took big strides and for someone Rei hadn't seen want to do a lot, he walked awfully fast all the time, according to Rei. By the time they finally got to apparently what their destination was, Rei felt a little out of breath. He bent over, hands on knees for a moment and then straightened, leaning back and looking up at the cliff being pointed to.

It was huge! He had just enough time to look back up to Shumatsu in a 'really though??' before the adult leaped to the top of this thing like it'd been a tree. Sundown?? It was midday already! He huffed and pouted, looking this stupid cliff up and down. This was going to mess up his clothes, wasn't it. He'd just finished cleaning this jacket from the last fight he had. And now it was going to be dirty and probably get damaged! He contemplated taking it off to climb, but the soft fabric was going to be the only thing between his pasty arms and some sharp rocks.

Another deep breath. "Okay, we can do this, you guys." A little fist pump. The uncertainty in his soft voice was apparent. He couldn't fail this though. They had to make it. It was a group effort. His team was his new group. All activities should be done in groups. Doing things alone was frowned upon unless it met one of the exception rules. This did not meet exception rule requirements. He made his way to the base of the cliff, looked back at the other two, giving an awkward low wave with his hand, and started to climb. There was probably and easier way to do this, he mused as soon as his palm touched a sharp rock and he pulled back to find a different grabbing point. He was a shinobi! He could not bring shame to his family. He had to do his very best. Even if he fell, he had to sacrifice for the group. He needed to make sure that his teammate made it. That was the rule. The group always comes before the self.

@cadday

Location: Training Ground 31Gorudo Hikigae
_______________________________________________
Quiet.......Nothingness.............Gasp! The body reflexed and convulsed against his will, sending him forward onto his hands and knees; much like how he was when Koji let go of him. His last moments were still playing in his mind as if it was still happening to him in slow motion. He still felt cold steel on his neck, blood flowing out of his body, his brain still simulating the feeling of what he thought to be his neck being cut. Gorudo was heaving and gasping trying to breathe, his brain still certain that he couldn't. His entire body and senses being consumed by the pull of death "Na....Na...Naruko! I...I'm Sorry!!" 

Garudo cried out pathetically, his throat horse and rasp. His whole body felt cold, like the steel that was at his neck. His ears began to start ringing as the many sharp scrapes and clangs of Koji's kunai barrage from erlier began to pile on top of Garudo's weakened mental state. Things he was trying to block out... began to consume him. Desperately heaving air in and out of his body rapidly, tensing the muscles in his neck, combined with the stress and anxiety forced Garudo's body to vomit onto the ground near him, falling off his hands and knees. He opened his eyes briefly, seeing Naruko's face before falling unconscious a second time. 

But this time...there was space, there was peace, a peace he was attuned to. He felt the warm comfort of his bed. His mother's arms embracing him. There was no sound, no intrusive thoughts crowding his mindscape. A little Garudo began running around with their arms out pretending to fly with his new friend Naruko, which quickly turned into an impromptu game of tag. Then the world around him shifted to nighttime. Suddenly Garudo and Naruko were dressed in makeshift ninja outfits, now they were a few years older. "Okay! Garu, dis is a tawp seqwet mission, stwait from the Hokagy demselfs!" Little Naruko said to him as quietly as she could but wanted to emphasize the seriousness of the mission. Garudo said nothing and gave her a serious nod in return; appropriate to the level of serious seriousness that this mission required. "In your daddies room is a secret thingy that holds all de secrets in the entire woooooorld! I knows because I saws where he puts it. He didn't want anyone seeing where hehehe" 

Suddenly time seamlessly leaps forward. Garudo and Naruko were ninja crawling across the tatami mat floor of his dad's "meditation" room. Garudo and Naruko gently lifted a loose panel in the floor revealing a secret storage compartment! Garudo's face began to scrunch up in confusion at what he was looking at. Because it currently didn't look like something that had all the secrets in the world. Naruko giggled as she grabbed the magazine titled Bare Kum♡ichi #17 and just as she held it in her hands his dad burst into the room! 

Suddenly Gorudo awoke again just as his dad was about to lecture them. Gorudo was awake again, a smell filling his nose. He reflexively rose to a sitting position with his knees up. Opening his eyes he could see Naruko and Nijira awake and alive, this sight brought him instant comfort. But that was short-lived as the feelings of his recent traumatic experience began to flood back into his mind. Garudo clenched his hands around his head, trying to push the coldness of death away. But along with that coldness was a strange satisfaction that scared him even more, similar to the peace of his own dreams, the calm solitude of a normal mind. Garudo could now fight back against The Quiet, feeling his neck was closed made it seep back farther. Quickly he searched to check his other wounds, he found that they had been tended to, he continued to try and gain more ground against The Quiet. 

He felt something in his nose which he quickly pulled out and threw away. The mental fog began to clear, his personal torment started to drift to the back of his mind, Garudo tried to focus on the surrounding nature and people around him, trying to focus on something else, anything else, The Quiet became a pulse in the back of his mind, numb and subdued like the awareness of one's heartbeat after running past their limits, his head pounded like a migraine. It was just then that Koji announced the end of the test, and gave them a promise that they won't have to go through that again. Garudo had his own frustrations to announce but Nijira went first... Garudo had no idea Nijira felt so insecure about himself, Garudo wondered if Nijira felt like he was lucky, if he was really that weak, they wouldn't let him be shinobi... would they? Gorudo gave himself a research project for later but quickly tried not to ponder the implication of the results, as he was trying to keep death off his mind as much as possible. 

With Nijira done speaking Garudo added "And what kind of half-assed reasoning is that!?" Garudo said and then immediately mimicked Koji's stance and voice with a surprising amount of accuracy for a 13-year-old boy"That was your last moment. My goal as your sensei is to make it so you will never experience that again." Then he switched back to his own voice "Why not just knock us out! make us wake up thinking we died! NOT ACTUALLY SIMULATING DEATH! are you nuts! did your sensai hit you too hard in the head!? Because of you! I will experience it multiple times! Did you skip that part of my file? I. cant. forget! I will now have this experience permanently engraved into my brain! Mission accomplished Takuma Sensai! What's next!?" Garudo said, he was furious; he found his sensai's logic unsatisfactory "I will pay for lunch, but first I will have to leave you in this desert with no food or water for 3 days." Garudo mimicked him again. But the thought of dying in the desert triggered The Quiet to send shivers through his body, feeling the cold steel press on his neck once more, causing him to cough again until he pushed The Quiet back. He then needed something to draw his focus so he looked at Naruko. He Remembered the things they had done together, he used those positive memories to push The Quiet back. 

"Are we done today?" Garudo said with a pained grimace, tears started to form in his eyes, he had never felt so angry before, he had never yelled at anyone like that before, he felt guilty about it, but he at the same time didn't regret saying how he felt. Today was a big day for him and it had not gone how he wanted it to go. his body was relatively uninjured, but the mental gymnastics he was doing combined with the emotional fatigue had him drained. He wants to be a part of this team because this had been Naruko & his dream for so long, so he was willing to continue no matter what. But he would really prefer to just go home, hug his mother, and sleep. "If there is more you need from us, let's just get it over with..." Garudo said, an uncharacteristic edge was in his voice. He wiped the tears from his eyes and stared at his sensai with a combative glare.

Location: Training Ground 31	Gorudo Hikigae
^{_______________________________________________}	Quiet.......Nothingness.............Gasp! The body reflexed and convulsed against his will, sending him forward onto his hands and knees; much like how he was when Koji let go of him. His last moments were still playing in his mind as if it was still happening to him in slow motion. He still felt cold steel on his neck, blood flowing out of his body, his brain still simulating the feeling of what he thought to be his neck being cut. Gorudo was heaving and gasping trying to breathe, his brain still certain that he couldn't. His entire body and senses being consumed by the pull of death "Na....Na...Naruko! I...I'm Sorry!!" Garudo cried out pathetically, his throat horse and rasp. His whole body felt cold, like the steel that was at his neck. His ears began to start ringing as the many sharp scrapes and clangs of Koji's kunai barrage from erlier began to pile on top of Garudo's weakened mental state. Things he was trying to block out... began to consume him. Desperately heaving air in and out of his body rapidly, tensing the muscles in his neck, combined with the stress and anxiety forced Garudo's body to vomit onto the ground near him, falling off his hands and knees. He opened his eyes briefly, seeing Naruko's face before falling unconscious a second time. But this time...there was space, there was peace, a peace he was attuned to. He felt the warm comfort of his bed. His mother's arms embracing him. There was no sound, no intrusive thoughts crowding his mindscape. A little Garudo began running around with their arms out pretending to fly with his new friend Naruko, which quickly turned into an impromptu game of tag. Then the world around him shifted to nighttime. Suddenly Garudo and Naruko were dressed in makeshift ninja outfits, now they were a few years older. "Okay! Garu, dis is a tawp seqwet mission, stwait from the Hokagy demselfs!" Little Naruko said to him as quietly as she could but wanted to emphasize the seriousness of the mission. Garudo said nothing and gave her a serious nod in return; appropriate to the level of serious seriousness that this mission required. "In your daddies room is a secret thingy that holds all de secrets in the entire woooooorld! I knows because I saws where he puts it. He didn't want anyone seeing where hehehe" Suddenly time seamlessly leaps forward. Garudo and Naruko were ninja crawling across the tatami mat floor of his dad's "meditation" room. Garudo and Naruko gently lifted a loose panel in the floor revealing a secret storage compartment! Garudo's face began to scrunch up in confusion at what he was looking at. Because it currently didn't look like something that had all the secrets in the world. Naruko giggled as she grabbed the magazine titled Bare Kum♡ichi #17 and just as she held it in her hands his dad burst into the room! Suddenly Gorudo awoke again just as his dad was about to lecture them. Gorudo was awake again, a smell filling his nose. He reflexively rose to a sitting position with his knees up. Opening his eyes he could see Naruko and Nijira awake and alive, this sight brought him instant comfort. But that was short-lived as the feelings of his recent traumatic experience began to flood back into his mind. Garudo clenched his hands around his head, trying to push the coldness of death away. But along with that coldness was a strange satisfaction that scared him even more, similar to the peace of his own dreams, the calm solitude of a normal mind. Garudo could now fight back against The Quiet, feeling his neck was closed made it seep back farther. Quickly he searched to check his other wounds, he found that they had been tended to, he continued to try and gain more ground against The Quiet. He felt something in his nose which he quickly pulled out and threw away. The mental fog began to clear, his personal torment started to drift to the back of his mind, Garudo tried to focus on the surrounding nature and people around him, trying to focus on something else, anything else, The Quiet became a pulse in the back of his mind, numb and subdued like the awareness of one's heartbeat after running past their limits, his head pounded like a migraine. It was just then that Koji announced the end of the test, and gave them a promise that they won't have to go through that again. Garudo had his own frustrations to announce but Nijira went first... Garudo had no idea Nijira felt so insecure about himself, Garudo wondered if Nijira felt like he was lucky, if he was really that weak, they wouldn't let him be shinobi... would they? Gorudo gave himself a research project for later but quickly tried not to ponder the implication of the results, as he was trying to keep death off his mind as much as possible. With Nijira done speaking Garudo added "And what kind of half-assed reasoning is that!?" Garudo said and then immediately mimicked Koji's stance and voice with a surprising amount of accuracy for a 13-year-old boy"That was your last moment. My goal as your sensei is to make it so you will never experience that again." Then he switched back to his own voice "Why not just knock us out! make us wake up thinking we died! NOT ACTUALLY SIMULATING DEATH! are you nuts! did your sensai hit you too hard in the head!? Because of you! I will experience it multiple times! Did you skip that part of my file? I. cant. forget! I will now have this experience permanently engraved into my brain! Mission accomplished Takuma Sensai! What's next!?" Garudo said, he was furious; he found his sensai's logic unsatisfactory "I will pay for lunch, but first I will have to leave you in this desert with no food or water for 3 days." Garudo mimicked him again. But the thought of dying in the desert triggered The Quiet to send shivers through his body, feeling the cold steel press on his neck once more, causing him to cough again until he pushed The Quiet back. He then needed something to draw his focus so he looked at Naruko. He Remembered the things they had done together, he used those positive memories to push The Quiet back. "Are we done today?" Garudo said with a pained grimace, tears started to form in his eyes, he had never felt so angry before, he had never yelled at anyone like that before, he felt guilty about it, but he at the same time didn't regret saying how he felt. Today was a big day for him and it had not gone how he wanted it to go. his body was relatively uninjured, but the mental gymnastics he was doing combined with the emotional fatigue had him drained. He wants to be a part of this team because this had been Naruko & his dream for so long, so he was willing to continue no matter what. But he would really prefer to just go home, hug his mother, and sleep. "If there is more you need from us, let's just get it over with..." Garudo said, an uncharacteristic edge was in his voice. He wiped the tears from his eyes and stared at his sensai with a combative glare.

Kamui Kaguya	"Loyalty and honor above all else."
^{_______________________________________________}	The day had started just like any other. Kamui woke himself up at 5am sharp and ran around the perimeter of the village. He liked when his face met the sun rising at the eastern gates. This had become somewhat of a daily ritual for him. He found himself wanting for energy on the days that didn't begin this way. He'd complete his run and return home to prepare for the Academy. Today was a little special. It was graduation day. Most of his classmates would become Genin today, and Kamui was listed towards the top half of the class. He never sought any praise or congratulations from anyone. The boy was not accustomed to receiving any sort of outside validation. His motivation came from something internal. A deeper sense of responsibility.. or fear. Perhaps that a day would come where he isn't able to protect what's important to him. Currently the only thing he had left to worry about was himself. He gathered his things and made for the Ninja Academy. "Shumatsu Dokumo", Kamui proclaimed to himself as his newly appointed sensei beckoned them to follow. Kamui was quiet on the way to the training grounds, but stuck close to his team. Shumatsu Sensei had instructed them to climb up a cliff that was easily 100ft high. Right before he himself leapt effortlessly to the top. Rei was the first to move. He approached the cliff and summoned his comrades. Kamui appreciated the boy's gung-ho spirit and stepped after him, carefully watching the earth in front of them. "Sensei could have planted boobytraps along the cliff.. or worse. We should do our best to stay together and watch out for anything strange", he'd say after placing a hand on the wall. Kamui had no intentions of simply scaling the wall himself. It'd be useless if the others couldn't make it. Best to stay together and have everyone help out where they can.

Kamui Kaguya

"Loyalty and honor above all else."

^{_______________________________________________}

The day had started just like any other. Kamui woke himself up at 5am sharp and ran around the perimeter of the village. He liked when his face met the sun rising at the eastern gates. This had become somewhat of a daily ritual for him. He found himself wanting for energy on the days that didn't begin this way.

He'd complete his run and return home to prepare for the Academy. Today was a little special. It was graduation day. Most of his classmates would become Genin today, and Kamui was listed towards the top half of the class. He never sought any praise or congratulations from anyone. The boy was not accustomed to receiving any sort of outside validation. His motivation came from something internal. A deeper sense of responsibility.. or fear. Perhaps that a day would come where he isn't able to protect what's important to him. Currently the only thing he had left to worry about was himself. He gathered his things and made for the Ninja Academy.

"Shumatsu Dokumo", Kamui proclaimed to himself as his newly appointed sensei beckoned them to follow.

Kamui was quiet on the way to the training grounds, but stuck close to his team. Shumatsu Sensei had instructed them to climb up a cliff that was easily 100ft high. Right before he himself leapt effortlessly to the top.

Rei was the first to move. He approached the cliff and summoned his comrades. Kamui appreciated the boy's gung-ho spirit and stepped after him, carefully watching the earth in front of them.

"Sensei could have planted boobytraps along the cliff.. or worse. We should do our best to stay together and watch out for anything strange", he'd say after placing a hand on the wall. Kamui had no intentions of simply scaling the wall himself. It'd be useless if the others couldn't make it. Best to stay together and have everyone help out where they can.

[IC] Naruto: Fire From Ember (open/accepting) Page 12

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